1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to nuclear fuel rods. More specifically, this invention relates to a method of applying a burnable poison onto the exterior of a nuclear fuel rod, which burnable poison will adhere and be effective even after contact with coolant water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Burnable poisons, which are materials that have a high neutron absorption cross-section that gradually burn-up under neutron irradiation, are typically utilized in nuclear reactors to control excess reactivity in the nuclear fuel without having to employ one or more control rods. Burnable poisons are currently incorporated into the fuel of a nuclear reactor. Moreover, due to the burn-up of the burnable poison, the negative reactivity of the burnable poison decreases over core life. Examples of patents in this area include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,520,958; 4,774,051, 5,075,075, and 5,337,337 (Versteeg et al.; Peeks et al.; Kopel and Aoyama et al.; respectively) and U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2006/0109946 A1 (Lahoda et al.).